U.S. District Judge Vacates ATF’s AR Pistol Brace Rule

On June 13, 2024, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor vacated the ATF’s AR pistol brace rule, noting that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The ATF pistol brace rule targets stabilizer braces attached to AR pistols, claiming the braces turn AR pistols into short barrel rifles (SBRs). And since SBRs are regulated under the National Firearms Act (1934), the ATF issued its rule on AR-pistol braces to stop what it saw as a way around SBR regulations.

Breitbart News reported that U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary injunction against the AR pistol brace rule on November 8, 2023.

At that time, Kacsmaryk noted that the “court is not insensitive to the ATF’s concerns over gun industry gamesmanship and attempts to circumvent the rules on SBRs.” But he followed that acknowledgement by quoting Bruen (2022), noting that the government may not justify the passage and/or existence of a regulation by “simply [positing] that the regulation promotes an important interest.”

On June 13, 2024, Judge O’Connor vacated the entire rule on the grounds that it violates “APA procedural requirements.”

He explained that no intermediate decision would suffice, writing, “An illegitimate agency action is void ab initio and therefore cannot be remanded as there is nothing for the agency to justify.”

The Department of Justice could appeal O’Connor’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The case, Mock v. Garland, was brought by the Firearms Policy Coalition.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.